‘Softly Spoken American’ Is Good Choice for Oil Clean-Up Task

By Guy Chazan

As boss of TNK-BP, BP’s Russian joint venture, he was on the front-line of one of the oil patch’s great corporate power struggles of recent times, as BP warred with its Russian oligarch partners for control of the company. [Read about the dispute here.]

Now he faces an even greater challenge -– cleaning up after the worst oil spill in U.S. history. [Read our coverage here.]

Last week, BP CEO Tony Hayward said Mr. Dudley would head up a new stand-alone organization to manage BP’s long-term response once its leaking well is finally capped. The unit, which will report directly to Mr. Hayward, will “manage the reputational impact of the spill, manage our financial obligations and restore trust and confidence in BP in America,” Mr. Hayward told investors last Friday.

That’s a tough ask. BP’s name is mud in the U.S. Rebuilding such a badly-damaged brand will probably take years of back-breaking work. The backlash from Capitol Hill, newly empowered regulators, NGOs and lawyers pursuing thousands of damages claims against BP will be intense.

But if anyone can do the job, Mr. Dudley can. Mr. Hayward, a plain-speaking geologist unused to the media spotlight, has been vilified in the U.S. for a series of gaffes including the lament that he “wanted [his] life back.” His English accent has proved an irritant, helping to fix BP in the American public’s mind as a foreign oil company.

Mr. Dudley could help change that. A soft-spoken and easy-going American, he spent nearly 20 years working for Amoco before it was acquired by BP in 1998. He will now be the American face of BP’s oil spill response.

He comes to the job with a strong resume. Under his five-year stint as CEO of TNK-BP it delivered the highest total return among major Russian oil companies, paying more than $18 billion in dividends. It increased production by 26% and downstream earnings fivefold.

But in the end his stewardship there was overshadowed by the shareholder war, which he lost. He was forced to flee Russia in the summer of 2008, after the authorities refused to renew his work visa. TNK-BP is now run by a Russian and BP’s influence over the company has diminished.

Mr. Dudley was rewarded with a place on the BP board and a new job — managing director, with oversight of the company’s activities in the Americas and Asia.

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